Each year our senior students are given a rare insight into the career journeys of some of our most talented young alumni through an initiative called the Old Collegians’ Chats. On Tuesday morning, John Kehoe (Class of 2000) was guest speaker at our annual Business Breakfast and then also spoke to our Year 12 cohort about his journey since leaving MLMC.
The Old Collegians' Chats was established to give our current students an insight into the various career options available to them. Reconnecting with Old Collegians is a great way to achieve this, allowing our students to learn from those who have walked the same corridors and experienced life at MLMC. These alumni talks also inspire our students to be ambitous and aim high.
John spoke to the students about pursuing his passion and dream to be a journalist which became a reality when he as appointed a senior reporter with the Australian Financial Review (AFR) newspaper in Canberra. He studied Economics in Year 12 and told of his teacher, Mr Michael Johnston, bringing in copies of the AFR and other papers for the students to read, while a Year 12 Politics class trip to Canberra also “struck a chord”.
John’s drive has taken him from MLMC to a highly successful career in journalism with the 'Fin Review', including a five-year stint as US correspondent in Washington DC. He’s now based at Parliament House in the newspaper's bureau. John returned to Australia in August 2018 with his wife Jenny and their two daughters, aged five and three, having spent close to five years living in the United States where John covered the political rise of President Donald Trump and his defeat of Hilary Clinton in the 2016 US election. Last week he was interviewing Federal Treasurer John Frydenberg and his Labor counterpart Chris Bowen.
John had begun his life at MLMC in Year 7 White with Mr David Banfield his homeroom teacher and he had the nickname ‘Noodles’ “because I was skinny”. John spoke of the values instilled in him while at MLMC by teachers including Mr Johnston, the late Mark Prest and Kerrie West. “MLMC gave me an opportunity to achieve, professionally, socially and academically. My experience at Mount Lilydale has had an influence in where I have ended up in life.
“This school can certainly punch above its weight. It’s a good launching pad to go on to something you are passionate about in your life.”
He remembered that at the Year 12 Retreat teacher Mr Tim Newcomb spoke to the students and used a quote from former Australian Test cricket captain Steve Waugh. The quote “The pain of hard work is nothing like the pain of disappointment” was soon typed up and printed by John and stuck to his desk for inspiration during his Year 12 studies. “Follow your passion, follow what you’re good at and follow your dreams,” was his inspiring advice to our Year 12 students.
